


NotLOL

by fuzipenguin



Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Episode: s04e09 Shawn Takes a Shot In the Dark, Gen, Gunshot Wounds, Panic Attacks, Pre-Slash, Protective Carlton Lassiter, Shock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25088014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzipenguin/pseuds/fuzipenguin
Summary: Immediately after 'Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark' Carlton is the only one who notices how Spencer is faltering.
Relationships: Burton "Gus" Guster & Shawn Spencer, Carlton Lassiter & Shawn Spencer
Comments: 10
Kudos: 165





	NotLOL

Carlton rounds the front of his car and absently takes in the cluster of people standing near the trunk. His partner is part of the group as well as two uniforms, both Spencers, and Guster. He idly surveys all of them and then his gaze fixates on one individual in particular as he realizes that Spencer Jr is going to drop any moment.

No one else seems to see it, but then again, they all seem preoccupied with talking over one another as they each wax poetic about their perspective actions in the last few hours. In comparison, Spencer is completely silent and lists against Carlton’s car with a forced smile and drooping shoulders.

“All right, back off, all of you!” Carlton barks. He shoves his way between his partner and Henry, making a beeline for Spencer. “Guster, go see if there are any snacks in that clown car of yours. O’Hara, find out that ambulance’s ETA, would you?”

With a push far gentler than he would have normally given Spencer, he slides the psychic two inches to the right and opens the rear driver’s side door. Grabbing an old sweatshirt he had left there the other day, he tosses it down onto the seat and grabs Spencer’s arm.

“In,” he commands, directing Spencer down into the car. Spencer practically collapses once Carlton has hold of him; there are none of the normal dramatics and that’s also pretty telling.

The voices behind him get louder and more panicked, but Carlton pays them no mind as he grabs his suit jacket from the front seat and tucks it around Spencer’s shoulders.

“Hey, no, I’m…f-fine… Lassie, I’m fine,” Spencer weakly protests as Carlton draws the lapels close together over his chest.

“No, you’re not, you’re in shock,” Carlton retorts, eying the tremble of Spencer’s fingers as he reflexively grips the edges of the cloth. Carlton writes the jacket off as a loss when he sees the blood-stained digit tips, but surprisingly he doesn’t care. Now, if blood got on his brand new vehicle…

Carlton leans past Spencer and grabs the half empty bottle of Dasani O’Hara had left behind yesterday. He unscrews the top and shoves it into Spencer’s hands just as he hears the scrape of shoes sliding in gravel behind him. He straightens up to see Guster rounding the trunk, several packets of cookies and other assorted snacks clutched in his hands. 

O’Hara is on her phone, hopefully speaking to dispatch about the ambulance. Henry is at her side, worriedly staring inside the car at his son.

“Lassiter?” Henry asks, looking uncertain. Carlton discreetly rolls his eyes. _Now_ the man is out of his element.

“He’s not bleeding out or anything. Just needs some sugar,” Carlton replies, grabbing the bags from Guster. He gives Guster a jerk of his head, trying to indicate that he should take Henry and back off a bit. Now is not the time for Spencer to feel that the needs to put on a show for his father. 

“Here. Eat this,” Carlton commands, ripping open a pack of Oreos and shoving one into Spencer’s hand.

“I’m… I’m not in s-shock,” Spencer says with a shake of his head. He promptly wolfs the cookie down however, and reaches for another. “I got shot hours ago.”

“Right. And barely ten minutes have passed since you jumped onto one moving vehicle from another speeding down the highway. Plus, I bet you haven’t had anything to eat or drink in nearly twelve hours. Your adrenaline is fading and your blood sugar is low.”

“That _is_ a while without any form of sustenance,” Spencer replies flippantly, voice already sounding a little stronger than it did a minute ago. He eats the rest of the pack of cookies and downs the bottle of water but if anything, his hands start shaking more violently. “Got any Slim Jims? I know Gus keeps some in the Blueberry. There his favorite snack and he hates to share so if he didn’t bring any, you march him right back over there and…”

He grabs hold of Spencer’s wrist and gives it a squeeze, effectively halting Spencer’s exponentially quickening ramble. Carlton doesn’t need a show either.

“Spencer… stop.”

“N-no, b-but I really t-think the extra protein…” Spencer’s words fade away, and he stares desperately up at Carlton, eyes pleading. “T-that… that _was_ r-really crazy, huh?”

It’s like it hits him all at once. Spencer’s entire body shudders and he ducks his head as he makes a choked sound. Listing forward, the hand of his good arm flails out and claws into Carlton’s shirt at his shoulder. Carlton blindly stares out the opposite car window as Spencer’s forehead thunks against Carlton’s collarbone and he starts wheezing.

“Spencer… you’re all right, you’re fine.”

Well, Carlton thinks he is. Spencer has never acted like this before, at least not for real. It’s a little unnerving.

“I’m… I’m having a heart attack!” Spencer gasps, his voice weak and threadbare.

“No, you’re having a panic attack,” Carlton replies, trying to keep his voice level. He places a palm on the side of Spencer’s ribs, feeling his entire body struggling to take in a breath. “Spencer… _Shawn_ … just focus on breathing… in… out… come on, count with me… one… two… one, two… listen to the sound of my voice…”

It’s a relatively short attack, maybe lasting only two minutes. By the end of it, Carlton’s run out of things to say and is just repeating the same thing over and over again, mainly ‘just breathe. Breathe, Spencer, breathe.”

Being reassuring isn’t exactly Carlton’s forte, after all. And breathing _is_ important.

When it’s over, Spencer slumps forward, leaning against Carlton’s chest. As Carlton is kneeling on the hard ground, the extra weight makes his knees scream, but he doesn’t toss Spencer backwards although he sort of wants to. Because he also sort of wants to crawl into the back of the cruiser and pull Spencer into his arms in order to keep him from going out and doing something else as monumentally stupid as he had today.

It’s a dichotomy of emotions that keeps Carlton right where he’s at.

Spencer pulls back on his own, eyes a little wet. He immediately rubs at them with the back of his sleeve, head bowed. “Damn. Damn, I could have sworn my heart was going to combust… do you think Jules saw me lose my cool just then?”

Carlton raises an eyebrow at him when Spencer lifts his head. He can already tell that Spencer is going to try and blow off the panic attack and to be honest, Carlton is a little too uncomfortable to do anything else but go along with it. “So what if she did? She’s seen you scream and jump onto her desk when a spider crawled onto your arm the other day.”

Spencer sniffs and leans against the back of the seat, eyelids heavy. “Good point. Man, where’s the ambulance? I could have sworn you said something about an ambulance. They carry drugs, don’t they? I want drugs.”

“Ambulance is pulling up now, Shawn,” Guster’s soft voice says over Carlton’s shoulder. Carlton uses Spencer’s knee to push himself upright and he nervously straightens his tie when he meets Guster’s intense stare.

“Here, you stay with him. Try to get him to eat something else and… yeah, make sure he drinks that too,” Carlton says, spying a bottle of Gatorade that Guster has in his hand. Blinking a little, Guster shakes himself out of his daze and takes Carlton’s spot, giving Spencer a tentative smile. Spencer gives him one in return, the edges fading a little as he glances up at Carlton.

Spencer looks puzzled for a second before returning his attention to his best friend as Guster starts chastising him. It’s more mother hen fussing than actually yelling, but even Carlton isn’t cruel enough to start listing out everything that Spencer screwed up over the last twelve hours. And he’s sure the Chief and Spencer’s father will have that well in hand later anyway. So Carlton heads for the ambulance as it pulls up, ignoring O’Hara’s wide-eyed look as he brushes past her.

It’s a little harder to evade Henry’s heavy, searching gaze, but Carlton refuses to be cowed by it. Shawn annoys the crap out of Carlton but at the end of the day, he’s still a part of their team and deserving of assistance… especially when no one else remembers to give it.

It isn’t Carlton’s fault that they were all so caught up in themselves that they stopped paying attention to Shawn. Really. Didn’t they all constantly watch him as much as Carlton did?

~ End 


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